Mop construction



Jan. 7, 1947. A, w HQYER 2,4l3,872

1 I MOP coNsTRUcTIoN v Filed May 12, 1943 Patentecl Jan. 7, V1947 'UNITED sTATE's PATENT Mor coNsTRUcTIoN Alfred W. Hoyer, Minneap'olis, Minn'.

. Application May 12, 1943, Serial No. 486,664`

(Cl.v -1191 3' Claims. I

This` invention relates to mop constructions'.

One' of the objects of my invention is to provide a mop having a handle. and a head carrying 'a compressib'le absorbent material, and means on the head for quickly and` easily squeezing water from the absorbent material.

Another object of .the invention is to provide a mop having means for squeezing the water therefromwherein. the squeez'ing action is accomplished in a simple rectilinear motion as distinguished from a twisting squeezing action.

A further object. of the invention is to provide a mop having squeezing means incorporated therewith. and having a head pivoted to the handle with the head unbal'anic'ed so thatv it will naturally swing to al position where the squeezing means can be conveniently utilized.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mop including a head portion and a handle portion wherein the head is connected to the handle by a pivot whose axis lies at an oblique angle .to the longitudinal axis of the handle so that a twist of the handle will cause the head to `assume different postions relative to the handle.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanyng drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device and its application to the floor of a room;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the mo-p head with the handle broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view with the handle broken away showing the squeezing action of the mop.

As shown in the drawing the mop is provided with a handle 5. On the lower end of the handle is a sleeve 6. As shown in Fig. 3 the bottom of the sleeve is bent at an angle approximately 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the handle. Pivoted in the lower portion 1 of the sleeve 6 is a pivot pin 8 which is disposed at substantially a 45 degree angle to' the longitudinal axis of the handle 5. One end of the pin 8 is threaded and provided with a nut 9 and the other end of said pin extends forwardly through the lower portion 'I of the sleeve 6 and is connected to a cross bar IO having a pair of spaced parallel outer arm portions H and 12. As shown best in Fig. 1, the arm ll is substantially wider than the cross piece IO.

OFFICE A rod I3 has its right-hand end rigidly secured to the arm |2 and said rod |3 extends through the arm ll. Slidably mounted on the rod [3' 'is' a sleeve 14 which extends through the arm and terminates adjacent the arm |2. The sleeve |4 has `a fiange 15 on its right-hand end and inside of the fiange is positioned a weight IB which is intended to swing the right-hand end of the mop head down when the mop is lifted from the fioor. To assist in this swnging movement of the mop head it should be noted in Figs. 2 and 4, particularly,v that the entire mop head assembly is unbalanced toV the right due to the offset relationship of the center'v o'f the mop head and the longitudinal axis of the handle 5,

'Thev left-hand endofthe sleeve L4 projec'ts somewhat beyond the arm II and a knob I'l is mounted on the sleeve |4 and secured .thereto by a suitable pin |8.

Mounted on the sleeve |4 between the arm H and .the weight IE is a rectangular block of Sponge |9. While I specify sponge the m-op portion l9 lmay be made of any suitable material and its shape need not necessarily be limited to the Shape shown and described.

When the mop is in use and the user wishes lto squeeze the water therefrom he raises the mop from the fioor and the weighted right-hand end thereof will swing downwardly thus presenting the knob l'l in a convenient position to be grasped by the user. The knob ll is then pulled as shown in Fig. 4, and the mop will be compressed between the disc-like weight |6 and the enlarged frame arm l. When the water has been squeezed from the mop the handle l'l can be released and the natural resiliency of the material of which the mop is made will cause it to resume the position shown in Fig. 2. It is unnecessary, to have any special Wringer such as is provided conven- .tionally for use on Water pails and it is further unnecessary to wring the mop by .twisting the absorbent material or Sponge |9.

Mention has been made of the oblique positioning of the axis of the pivot pin 8 relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle 5. Referring to Fig. 1 as the handle 5 is turned degrees it will cause the mop handle to swing from the position shown in Fg. 1 to a position 90 degrees therefrom while the mop head still remains fiat on the fioor in operative position. This-enables the user to push the mop in the position shown in Fig. 1 and utilize the entire spread of the mop on the floor, but when the handle is twisted it will cause the head to assume a position 90 degreesfrom the position in Fig. 1 and present the relatively narrow dimension across the mop so thatV it can be pushed into confined spaces on the fioor such as under low obstacles. Of course, any intermediate position can also be assumed by turning the mop handle through an arc of less than 90 degrees.

It should be noted that the sponge |9 can be reversed in position so that either of the relatively large flat surfaces thereof are available for use.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a simply constructed yet highly efiicient mopping device whose head is so constructed that the absorbent mopping unit or single pull on the knob l'l to cause the sleeve M to slide toward the abutment provided by the arm l I and also to cause the weighted disc IB to compress the sponge |9 against the abutment arm vI I. Additionally, as described above, the arrangement of the pivot for the mop head permits convenient manipulation of the mop head relative to the handle to secure either a maximum or minimum effective width.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A mop comprising, a handle, a frame member secured to the lower end of said handle, said frame member having portions extending laterally of said handle in opposite directions, the outer ends of said frame member being disposed in spaced, substantially parallel relationship, a mop head supporting unit located between and carried Sponge can be quickly and easily squeezed by aA by said parallel spaced ends of said frame member, a compressible mop head on said supporting unit, said supporting unit including an element confim'ng said mop head between the element and one of said parallel ends of said frame member, and said element being movable to compress said mop head against said last mentioned end of said frame member.

2. The structure in claim 1, and a compressing handle connected to said movable element and lying exteriorly of said last mentioned end of said frame member, and said frame having a pivotal connection with said handle and being weighted at the opposite end of the frame from said compressing handle, to cause said frame and mop head to swing to a position presenting the compressing handle located end of said frame uppermost when the mop is raised from the floor.

3. In a mop comprising, a handle, a frame member secured to the lower end of said handle, said frame member having portions extending laterally of said handle in opposite directions, the outer ends of said frame member being disposed in spaced substantially parallel relationship, a mop head supporting unit located between and carried by said parallel spaced ends of said frame member, a compressible mop head on said supporting unit, said supporting unit including an element confining said mop head between the element and one of said parallel ends of said frame member, said element being movable to compress said mop head'against said last mentioned end of said frame member, and a compressing handle connected to said movable element 'and lying exteriorly of said last mentioned end of said frame member.

ALFRED W. HOYER. 

